Northern Gannet Southeastern NC

[Cathy McEntee]

Had a wonderful Christmas morning out on the boat. Have been busy shooting the northern birds this winter--loons, razorbills and gannets. This was taken just off of S. Topsail Island where a flock of gannets were diving in a school of bait. It was a bit frustrating trying to shoot as the waves offshore were a solid 3'--not great for holding a camera steady. All feedback greatly appreciated.

Nikon D7000
Sigma 150-500 @ 500 mm
Manual Exp (not adjusted in PP)
ISO 800
f 6.3
1/1600 sec
Adjustments in Lightroom

[John Chardine]

Hi Cathy- Good effort in attempting a flying gannet capture. I like the wing angle and the slight CCW head turn gives some "look back" towards you. Best if you manage it to try to get the bird as it is flying in your general direction rather than away. This comes with practise. The head does not appear to be within the depth of field. You may be able to selectively sharpen the head some more to counter this. It would be a good idea to try to lighten the head some because this is the point your eye needs to be drawn to but the brighter body and wing is doing this instead. There's three "dust bunnies" I can see on the blue sky.

[Cathy McEntee]

Hi John - thank you much for your critique--appreciate you sharing your knowlege. This weekend I will work on fine tuning the image and will be more aware of bird position when shooting.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Cathy,

I was hoping John would chime in here. He has spent years studying these birds and is an expert photographer as well - his comments are spot on - please keep em coming.

[Bill Dix]

These are such beautiful birds in flight; glad you were able to capture one. Good comments from John - this would have been stronger if you had caught him just before he started getting past you. I might only add that taking about half of the empty space off the top, and adding some to the bottom, might help the comp.